The gun so heavy it requires a jack to keep the plane upright

Countries & Cities · Published 12 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The GAU-8 Avenger is a 30 mm Gatling cannon that accounts for about 17% of an A-10 aircraft's unladen weight. It is so massive and unbalanced that if you remove it for inspection, the airplane will actually tip backward unless secured by a mechanical jack.

Developed as a parallel program to the A-10 Thunderbolt II in 1970, the GAU-8/A Avenger was designed by General Electric. While both were intended to work together, the gun wasn't available during the initial competition, forcing prototypes to use the M61 Vulcan as a temporary substitute. The final assembly weighs 4,029 lb (1,828 kg) at maximum ammunition load—a staggering amount of hardware for a single weapon system.

Engineering this beast required solving complex physics problems regarding recoil and balance. To prevent the aircraft from pitching or yawing during fire, the gun is mounted slightly to the port side while the active barrel sits on the centerline. Furthermore, it is positioned just below the center of gravity, bore-sighted 2° below the line of flight. This configuration centers the recoil forces, which average 10,000 pounds-force (45 kN), a force actually greater than the thrust produced by each of the A-10's two engines.

The weapon's performance is defined by its high rate of fire—fixed at 3,900 rounds per minute—and superior ballistics. It fires 30 mm shells that have three times the mass and twice the range of projectiles from comparable close air support guns. Despite this power, pilots typically limit fire to one- or two-second bursts; while a pilot could theoretically empty the entire magazine in a single burst without damaging the system, doing so would drastically shorten the barrels' specified 20,000-round lifespan.

The GAU-8 also features innovative ammunition design. By using aluminum alloy cases instead of traditional steel or brass, the system gains 30% more capacity by weight. Additionally, a linkless feed system returns spent casings to the drum, minimizing shifts in the aircraft's center of gravity during high-intensity fire.

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